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34,239 public-domain books, summarised. Page 298 of 714.

Cover of A Collection of Scotch Proverbs

A Collection of Scotch Proverbs

Pappity Stampoy

These are the sharp, unvarnished voices of a landscape where wit is a weapon and endurance is the only currency. This collection offers an unfiltered look at the hard-won wisdom of a people who know that "a hungry man sees far.

Mythology, Legends & Folklore6 min read
Cover of A Psychological Counter-Current in Recent Fiction

A Psychological Counter-Current in Recent Fiction

William Dean Howells

A quiet tide of introspection is turning the course of contemporary fiction away from empty spectacle and toward a deeper, more rigorous engagement with the human soul. This critical survey examines how recent novelists are reclaiming the moral and psychological complexity that true literature requires.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Adventures of an Aide-de-Camp

Adventures of an Aide-de-Camp

James Grant

A young British officer survives the shifting, violent landscape of the Napoleonic Wars in Italy, moving through a web of brigands, secret societies, and crumbling ruins. This narrative blends the grit of military campaigning with the heightened, often tragic, romanticism of the early nineteenth century.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Ancient Rome and Modern America

Ancient Rome and Modern America

Guglielmo Ferrero

The restless energy of the machine age and the measured wisdom of antiquity collide in these reflections, offering a sobering look at what humanity sacrifices in its frantic pursuit of progress.

History - American7 min read
Cover of Angela's Business

Angela's Business

Henry Sydnor Harrison

A young writer obsessed with the "Woman’s Movement" attempts to dissect the nature of modern femininity, only to find his own life—and heart—inextricably entangled in his research.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Beginners Luck

Beginners Luck

Emily Hahn

A young man arrives in the vast, arid landscapes of New Mexico, only to find himself adrift between the suffocating expectations of his social circle and the exhilarating, reckless freedom of the open road.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Birds in Flight

Birds in Flight

W. P. (William Plane) Pycraft

The grace of a bird in motion is a study in precise engineering and evolutionary history. This work examines the mechanics of flight and the varied ways different species master the sky, from the silent glide of an owl to the lightning plunge of a gannet.

Nature/Gardening/Animals6 min read
Cover of Blue-beard: A Contribution to History and Folk-lore: Being the history of Gilles de Retz of Brittany, France, who was executed at Nantes in 1440 A.D., and who was the original of Blue-beard in the tales of Mother Goose

Blue-beard: A Contribution to History and Folk-lore: Being the history of Gilles de Retz of Brittany, France, who was executed at Nantes in 1440 A.D., and who was the original of Blue-beard in the tales of Mother Goose

Thomas Wilson

A celebrated Marshal of France, once a comrade-in-arms to Joan of Arc, descends into unimaginable darkness. This investigation unearths the true history of the nobleman who became the blueprint for the legend of Bluebeard.

Biographies6 min read
Cover of Bubbles of the Foam

Bubbles of the Foam

F. W. (Francis William) Bain

A divine romance born of celestial pride meets a tragic end in the shifting sands of a desert kingdom. This mythic tale explores the intersection of fatal love and the inevitable reach of human vanity.

Mythology, Legends & Folklore6 min read
Cover of Captain Bayley's Heir: A Tale of the Gold Fields of California

Captain Bayley's Heir: A Tale of the Gold Fields of California

G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

A young man wrongly accused of theft escapes to the California gold fields, where his character and labor eventually clear his name. This is a classic tale of redemption, resilience, and Victorian morality.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of Captain Scraggs

Captain Scraggs

Peter B. (Peter Bernard) Kyne

A penny-pinching skipper and his boisterous crew navigate the treacherous waters of the Pacific in this spirited, episodic tale of maritime misadventure and dubious get-rich-quick schemes.

Adventure5 min read
Cover of Chantry House

Chantry House

Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary) Yonge

A quiet, reflective family chronicle, this narrative traces the bonds of brothers as they grow from childhood into the complexities of adulthood, navigating the weight of inheritance, moral duty, and the long shadows of the past.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Climatic Changes: Their Nature and Causes

Climatic Changes: Their Nature and Causes

Ellsworth Huntington

Climate is not a static constant, but a pulsing, restless variable that has shaped the rise and fall of civilizations and the trajectory of life on Earth. Through a meticulous synthesis of geology, meteorology, and dendrochronology, the text maps the rhythmic fluctuations of the world’s atmosphere across eons.

Environmental Issues6 min read
Cover of Connie Morgan in Alaska

Connie Morgan in Alaska

James B. (James Beardsley) Hendryx

A young boy ventures into the frozen, unforgiving Alaskan wilderness to rescue his partner, discovering that true strength in the North is measured by loyalty, endurance, and the bonds forged between comrades.**

Adventure5 min read
Cover of Donahoe's Magazine, Volume 15, No. 3, March 1886

Donahoe's Magazine, Volume 15, No. 3, March 1886

Various

This issue of a late 19th-century monthly serves as a bridge between the spiritual concerns of the Irish diaspora and the shifting political landscape of the British Isles. It captures a moment of transition where old-world traditions, Catholic social teaching, and the nascent urgency of the Home Rule movement…

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of Electricity and Magnetism

Electricity and Magnetism

Elisha Gray

A firsthand witness to the dawn of the electronic age explains how invisible forces were harnessed to shrink the world and power a new civilization.

Science - Physics6 min read
Cover of Electricity for the farm: Light, heat and power by inexpensive methods from the water wheel or farm engine

Electricity for the farm: Light, heat and power by inexpensive methods from the water wheel or farm engine

Frederick Irving Anderson

This guide offers a practical, hands-on manual for the early twentieth-century farmer to harness natural water power or small engines for electrification, replacing the dim, dangerous reliance on oil lamps and manual labor with modern, clean energy.

Engineering & Technology6 min read
Cover of Experiments on Animals

Experiments on Animals

Stephen Paget

Scientific progress often demands a heavy toll, yet the defense of medical research requires more than just good intentions. This account provides a rigorous examination of the relationship between physiological advancement and the ethics of laboratory practice.

Health & Medicine6 min read
Cover of First and Last

First and Last

Hilaire Belloc

This collection of essays captures the restless spirit of a traveler, moving between the precise observation of a landscape and the wandering reflections of a philosophical mind. It is a meditation on the permanence of human nature set against the shifting, often illusory, surfaces of modern history and geography.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of For Love of a Bedouin Maid

For Love of a Bedouin Maid

Voleur

A soldier’s life is consumed by the shadow of Napoleon, tracing a path from the deserts of Egypt to the halls of power and, finally, to a tragic, watery end.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of From the Hebrides to the Himalayas, vol. 1 [of 2]

From the Hebrides to the Himalayas, vol. 1 [of 2]

C. F. (Constance Frederica) Gordon Cumming

The wind-swept Hebrides and the distant, sun-drenched Himalayas find a strange, shared geography in these pages. A traveler’s eye connects the ancient soul of the Scottish islands with the vast, mystical landscapes of the East.

Travel Writing7 min read
Cover of Graham's Magazine, Vol. XLI, No. 6, December 1852

Graham's Magazine, Vol. XLI, No. 6, December 1852

Various

This mid-nineteenth-century miscellany captures the intellectual pulse of the 1850s, weaving together travelogues, historical surveys, and domestic fiction into a single, vibrant tapestry of Victorian-era literary life.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Hearts of Controversy

Hearts of Controversy

Alice Meynell

These essays provide a sharp, discerning lens through which to re-examine the giants of English literature, favoring the enduring truth of a poet’s vision over the fickle fashions of contemporary opinion.

Essays, Letters & Speeches6 min read
Cover of How to judge architecture: a popular guide to the appreciation of buildings

How to judge architecture: a popular guide to the appreciation of buildings

Russell Sturgis

This guide invites readers to look past the surface of buildings, teaching them to see architecture not as a collection of styles, but as a thoughtful, logical response to structural necessity.

Architecture6 min read
Cover of Hygeia, a City of Health

Hygeia, a City of Health

Benjamin Ward Richardson

This vision of an ideal urban environment offers a blueprint for a healthier future, proving that even the most ambitious social reforms can be grounded in the practical application of sanitary science.

Architecture6 min read
Cover of In Silk Attire: A Novel

In Silk Attire: A Novel

William Black

This novel explores the delicate intersection of social ambition, the theater, and the quiet sacrifices born of unrequited love. It captures the tension between the public persona and the private heart with a refined, late-Victorian sensibility.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of Joseph and His Friend: A Story of Pennsylvania

Joseph and His Friend: A Story of Pennsylvania

Bayard Taylor

A young farmer’s life is upended by a disastrous marriage and the arrival of a soul-deep connection, forcing him to confront the stifling expectations of his rural Pennsylvania community.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Kashmir, described by Sir Francis Younghusband, painted by Major E. Molyneux

Kashmir, described by Sir Francis Younghusband, painted by Major E. Molyneux

Younghusband, Francis Edward, Sir

The grandeur of the Himalayan heights and the quietude of the Kashmir valley find their fullest expression in this evocative survey, which captures a landscape poised between ancient tradition and early twentieth-century modernization.

Travel Writing6 min read
Cover of Larkspur

Larkspur

Jane Abbott

A spirited girl finds her lonely world transformed when a young war refugee moves into her home, sparking a season of personal growth, Girl Scout service, and heartfelt discovery.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Lazarre

Lazarre

Mary Hartwell Catherwood

This historical novel explores the mystery of the "Lost Dauphin" of France, following a man who, raised as an Indian in the American wilderness, gradually awakens to the possibility that he is the rightful heir to the French throne.

French Literature6 min read
Cover of Master of Life and Death

Master of Life and Death

Robert Silverberg

The weight of seven billion souls presses down on a single desk. To save a suffocating world, one man must become the architect of its most hated necessity.

Novels5 min read
Cover of Musical Myths and Facts, Volume 1 (of 2)

Musical Myths and Facts, Volume 1 (of 2)

Carl Engel

This collection of essays offers a measured, scholarly look at the intersection of musical history, folklore, and the practical realities of the musician’s life, stripping away romanticized myths to uncover the truth.

History - Other6 min read
Cover of Other Tales and Sketches: (From: "The Doliver Romance and Other Pieces: Tales and Sketches")

Other Tales and Sketches: (From: "The Doliver Romance and Other Pieces: Tales and Sketches")

Nathaniel Hawthorne

This collection of tales and sketches explores the boundary between the living and the dead, finding both terror and profound beauty in the transient nature of human existence. Through a blend of travelogue, legend, and spectral narration, these pieces examine how objects and places become vessels for memory and…

American Literature6 min read
Cover of Poor Folk in Spain

Poor Folk in Spain

Jan Gordon

This account of two artists traveling through Spain captures the quiet, often humorous friction between foreign expectation and local reality. It offers an intimate look at a country caught between tradition and the slow encroachment of modernity.

Art6 min read
Cover of Principles of Home Decoration, With Practical Examples

Principles of Home Decoration, With Practical Examples

Candace Wheeler

A thoughtful guide to creating domestic environments, this work balances artistic principles with the practical realities of daily life to foster beauty within the home. It advocates for harmony, appropriateness, and the quiet power of thoughtful surroundings.

Art6 min read
Cover of Psychoanalysis and Love

Psychoanalysis and Love

André Tridon

The heart is not a mystical organ, but a biological one; love is not a triumph of the will, but a compelling, deterministic force of our inner biology.

Philosophy & Ethics6 min read
Cover of Sea life in Nelson's time

Sea life in Nelson's time

John Masefield

The wooden walls of England’s eighteenth-century Navy were more than machines of war; they were floating societies, defined by hierarchy, brutal discipline, and the grinding realities of long-distance survival at sea.

History - British6 min read
Cover of Shenanigans at Sugar Creek

Shenanigans at Sugar Creek

Paul Hutchens

A group of small-town boys finds their winter mischief complicated by a demanding new teacher and the troublesome antics of a rival pair of brothers.

Children & Young Adult Reading5 min read
Cover of Tales of Secret Egypt

Tales of Secret Egypt

Sax Rohmer

These linked tales transport readers to an atmospheric, turn-of-the-century Egypt where ancient curses, hidden treasures, and forbidden romances simmer just beneath the surface of daily life.

Adventure7 min read
Cover of The adventures of Captain O'Shea

The adventures of Captain O'Shea

Ralph Delahaye Paine

An intrepid sailor seeks his fortune across the globe, navigating colonial uprisings, mysterious island kings, and lethal secret societies with a steady hand and a quick wit.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Arena, Volume 18, No. 92, July, 1897

The Arena, Volume 18, No. 92, July, 1897

Various

This mid-summer issue of a prominent late-nineteenth-century intellectual periodical captures the urgent political anxieties, economic theories, and spiritual inquiries defining the American progressive movement at the dawn of the twentieth century.

Economics7 min read
Cover of The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 74, December, 1863: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 74, December, 1863: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics

Various

This collection captures the intellectual pulse of America in 1863, blending the urgent rhetoric of the Civil War with timeless literary reflection and scientific inquiry.

American Literature6 min read
Cover of The Brownies: Their Book

The Brownies: Their Book

Palmer Cox

These nimble, nocturnal sprites emerge under the cover of darkness to master the inventions of the human world, finding joy in every forbidden playground. They turn the quiet of the night into a stage for endless, exuberant curiosity.

Children & Young Adult Reading6 min read
Cover of The Commission in Lunacy

The Commission in Lunacy

Honoré de Balzac

A society woman attempts to have her estranged husband declared legally insane, only to find herself facing a judge whose integrity cannot be bought or swayed. This focused drama examines the intersection of aristocratic pride, moral duty, and the cold machinery of the law.

French Literature6 min read
Cover of The Conquest of Fear

The Conquest of Fear

Basil King

The struggle against fear is not a battle to be won by suppressing emotion, but a spiritual journey toward understanding one’s place in a benevolent, co-operative universe.

Philosophy & Ethics7 min read
Cover of The Cruise of the Midge (Vol. 1 of 2)

The Cruise of the Midge (Vol. 1 of 2)

Michael Scott

A spirited, atmospheric adventure through the treacherous Caribbean, where a young merchant’s cruise descends into a feverish odyssey of piracy, naval warfare, and supernatural unease.

Adventure6 min read
Cover of The Hedge School

The Hedge School

William Carleton

Driven by an unyielding hunger for knowledge, the Irish peasantry created makeshift classrooms in open fields, finding wisdom beneath the hawthorn hedge in defiance of poverty, hardship, and the law.

British Literature6 min read
Cover of The History of Ancient America, Anterior to the Time of Columbus: Proving the Identity of the Aborigines with the Tyrians and Israelites

The History of Ancient America, Anterior to the Time of Columbus: Proving the Identity of the Aborigines with the Tyrians and Israelites

George Jones

The ancient civilizations of the Americas were not truly "new" discoveries, but the historical descendants of Tyrian and Israelite voyagers who crossed the Atlantic long before Columbus.

History - American7 min read
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